All it took was a glimpse of a certain character to get me excited for this episode. I didn’t worry that Bruce Wayne was going to be in danger in Telltale’s Batman Episode 4: Guardian of Gotham, or that Gotham could lose the protection of Batman. I finally got to see Telltale’s version of the Joker and I wanted more. Now we have him though, is he worth the wait?

After the events of last episode, Bruce Wayne is now in Arkham Asylum. Looking for a way to escape his situation and to track down Lady Arkham and the Children of Arkham, he finds aid in an unexpected source. Is this smiling stranger to be trusted though? And can Batman save Gotham before it is too late?

Starting off in Arkham Asylum makes this episode feel different from the rest of the games. It is a shame that this visit is somewhat brief though. For the time it lasts, it really does become a highlight of Telltale’s Batman, because of The Joker, as expected.

This version of The Joker is an interesting one though, because he is somewhat of an Origin version. Not yet known to Batman, we see the way he is able to manipulate people, and to some degree even Wayne himself. The way we escape (or at least my choice) is one that is definitely going to come back to haunt Bruce Wayne, and it seems many other people took the similar route.

While I can’t get into details about the choice, it is an interesting one because the audience knows exactly who The Joker is (or as he calls himself right now, John Doe). We make the decision to take up an offer from him, and to escape people do pay the price of the choice we have made. It is telling of Telltale’s “choices” that I myself went for what I saw as the morally questionable option because I don’t think there will be many repercussions anyway.

Fans of Batman will love the glimpse we get inside Arkham Asylum because of the characters that we meet. Pay special attention to the recreation room scene, there are a few villains in there that Batman will no doubt meet in the future.

On escaping Arkham, there are a few confrontations that we are given the chance to live through, and it does feel that they will be important to the final episode. It does seem now though that all the chess pieces are in place and we have all the clues as to how the story will end. The question is of course just how acceptable to the fans this ending will be.

So far Telltale’s Batman has been an interesting take on the DC character, but has for the most part stayed in common ground. This is the pitfall of handling Batman and the other characters from his world. While it hasn’t taken many risks so far, it does feel like a Batman story, and a good one. What more can we ask for?